Shilpa Shetty asks women to carry knives when they go out

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has asked women and girls to keep a ‘knife’ with them as a protective weapon whenever they venture out at odd hours and go to localities which they perceive as ‘dangerous’ ones. “Knife would be a handy weapon to use in times of danger to protect ourselves,” she has said.

Shilpa, who starred in Tamil films such as Khushi and Mr. Romeo more than a decade back, is married and is also the owner of the Rajasthan Royals team in the IPL cricket carnival. Speaking to newsmen recently, Shilpa felt that she was of the firm belief that keeping a knife with themselves would help women resist attempts of rape and sexual harassment against them.

“Only those persons with unsteady minds indulge in things such as rape and sexual harassment; the police are doing their best efforts in saving women from such acts. Still, you can’t expect the cops to be present at every place and at every hour to protect women. Women should indulge in self-defence acts to protect themselves. It would be better if they kept a knife with them to be used during emergency situations.

“Of late, incidents of sexual harassments and rape have become too much for us to digest. I get deeply upset while coming across such news. At times, I even shudder at the thought that I’m also part of such a society where women are treated so shabbily,” said Shilpa and added that the police are doing their best but it doesn’t mean that women can behave in a careless manner.